ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE Michael Giltz Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ Follow Movies , Television , TV Shows , Dvds , Entertainment News 1 49 0 0React Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: The King And Still Champ: Citizen Kane CITIZEN KANE ULTIMATE COLLECTION ($79.89 deluxe BluRay or $64.99 BluRay or $49.92 DVD; Warner Bros.) -- Hell yes it deserves to top the list of Greatest Movies Of All Time.</p><p> It's not my MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2FOLLOW US 17 Funny Thanksgiving QuotesPHOTOS: Amazing Shots Of Thanksgiving Day...</p><p> Too Much Makeup? PHOTOS: Sasha And Malia Are All Grown Up!EDITION: U.S.</p><p> November 24, 2011 Like 63 Posted: 9/17/11 01:16 AM ET SHARE THIS STORY Submit this storyGet Entertainment Alerts Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIESCONNECT FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORELike 51KRihanna Movies Television The Oscars Armchair Detective More Log innumber one favorite.</p><p> That might be Casablanca .</p><p> Or The Philadelphia Story.</p><p> But it's in my Top 10 and it's in the Top 20 of almost every hardcore cineaste I know. (The rest are just trying to be different.) It's there for a number of complicated reasons, just as The Beatles' Sgt.</p><p> Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tops music polls.</p><p> But never forget that the main reason is that it's a terrifically entertaining movie that'sbrilliantly acted and directed and superior on every level.</p><p> All the boxed sets contain Citizen Kane itself, plus the Oscar-winning documentary film The Battle Over Citizen Kane and the Emmy winning movie about the making of it called RKO 281 .</p><p> You'll find many of the extras from earlier incarnations, notably Roger Ebert's brilliant audio commentary, which puts Peter Bogdanovich's dull one to shame.</p><p> But all ofthis has been available before in one set or another.</p><p> The main reason is for the upgrade in picture quality and, I must say, the BluRay looks and sounds stunning.</p><p> The movie is always fresh but the improved image allows you to pay attention all over again.</p><p> If you own the most recent version, I wouldn't feelcompelled to buy it again, but if any classic is worth it, this is the one.</p><p> And yet none of this matters.Because the real news is the super deluxe BluRay version which contains -- for the first time on DVD -- yet another Orson Welles' masterpiece The Magnificent Ambersons .</p><p> It's available as an exclusive from Amazon.</p><p> And let me say again how much I HATE these exclusive deals.</p><p> It's really annoying having tofigure out whether to go to Best Buy or Amazon or Kmart to get the version of the album/movie/TV show that you want.</p><p> I wish these exclusives would end.</p><p> Famously chopped up by the studio, even with its final reel butchered, The Magnificent Ambersons is a remarkable film.</p><p> Those friends who don't automatically list Citizen Kane in their Top 10 usually include Ambersons and it's not just contrariness.</p><p> It's that great a film.</p><p> I still dream the lost footage will be dug out of some closet one day but you shouldn't hesitate to see it in its current form.</p><p> Why it's on DVD and not BluRay is a mystery, especially since it's not part of the DVD boxed set, just the BluRay deluxe version available only at Amazon And cruelly, I can't tell you how it looks or about any extras because it wasn't sent to me.</p><p> That's about the only way a movie lover could be sent such a lavish set like this in the mail and feel cheated, like a kid given a baseball bat but no glove.</p><p> Absolutely no one who buys this set should even consider purchasing the slightly cheaper BluRay versionavailable elsewhere.</p><p> You've got to get The Magnificent Ambersons now that it is finally available.</p><p> Who knows, some day if that lost footage is restored we might be saying that the king and still champ is Ambersons ? BRIDESMAIDS ($34.98 BluRay combo or $29.98 DVD; Universal) -- If watching chicks behave as boorishly as dudes is your idea of funny, then this flick is for you.</p><p> I wasn't feeling it, but any movie thatcan boost the profile of the hilarious and adorable Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls is fine by me.</p><p> Loads of extras like "Drunk-O-Rama" and the unrated version.</p><p> And really, if you want to see women behaving badly, don't you need the unrated version? Yes, there will be a sequel.</p><p> Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Watch No News: Study Charlie Angus What if They Declared an Emergency and No One Came? Loyal Dog Refuses To Leave Owner's Grave, Goes Week Without Food Kris Humphries: Husband From Hell? Kirstie Alley Looking Good Bourbon Distillery To Obama: 'Give Us The Bird' Jenny From The Block's Fiat Commercial A Sham Justin Takes Paternity Test, Then Serenades Selena Jack Wagner Confronted By Long Lost Daughter DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5 Dr.</p><p> Peggy Drexler We Can Be Thankful for Each Other Dylan Ratigan This Thanksgiving, Occupy Yourself Like 307K Like 41K Like 38K Recommend 726 Like 178 Like 149 Like 3K Recommend 587 Like 174 'G.I.</p><p> Joe' Sequel Crew Member Dies On Set Jennifer Lopez's Love For Bodysuits (Photos) Cameron Crowe Reveals How He Seduced Matt Damon For 'We Bought A Zoo';Names His 5 FavoriteMEEK'S CUTOFF ($34.99 BluRay or $29.99 DVD; Oscilloscope) -- Director Kelly Reichardt gets better and better with every film; here she fulfills the promise of Old Joy and Wendy & Lucy .</p><p> The latter starred Michelle Williams as a woman who lost her dog; her central riveting performance kept the slight story afloat.</p><p> Here, Williams is part of a marvelous ensemble, and while the plot comes fast and furious, it's presented in a low-key, ambiguous manner that suits Reichardt to a "t." In this Western set during the 1800s, three families are headed west with their guide Meek (Bruce Breenwood).</p><p> Meek is either lost or being urged by residents of the territory they're headed for to steer newcomers away to their deaths. (Toomany Americans might turn the territory over to the U.S. in a vote.) Meek may be clueless or cruel butthey undoubtedly need water and the capturing of a "savage" gives them a chance to ignore Meek and use this man to save them.</p><p> There you go.</p><p> That it's, all delivered in an open-ended manner sure to frustrate general audiences.</p><p> But what a cast.</p><p> Paul Dano is wonderful as a weak-willed man who only seems strongcompared to his hysterical wife (Zoe Kazan) who sees Indians lurking behind every tree.</p><p> The inestimable Shirley Henderson is wittily on target as a woman constantly keeping an eye on her wandering son and a husband who refuses water when it's scarce (to all of their detriment).</p><p> Greenwood is wonderfully offbeatas the guide and Will Patton is a rock of common sense as the husband of Williams, though theirrelationship is a little tense. (She's his second wife and he seems uncertain about this woman with opinions.) Without a hint of modernism, Williams creates a strong, fascinating character who insists on seeing the captured savage (Rod Rondeaux) as a man and not just an object of scorn or even pity.Exceptionally well-acted, quiet and observant, this is pure art house fare, which is meant as a warning for those who might want, you know, a little action and some answers, and as praise for a talented director coming into her own.</p><p> THOR ($54.99 for 3-D BluRay combo; $44.99 BluRay combo; $29.99 DVD; Paramount) -- Marvel took a huge gamble, in my mind, when they chose to self-finance a movie starring the rather oddball comic book character of Thor.</p><p> Surely that archaic sounding god would be an even harder sell than Iron Man? It paid off mightily when the movie grossed $448 million worldwide, making it a significant franchise for the studio and helping to set up The Avengers movie.</p><p> Sight unseen, I would have considered Captain America a safer bet.</p><p> It's certainly the better movie, though Thor has a few brief moments of fun when Thor and his friends interact with humans.</p><p> Mostly, it's a rather laborious affair, handled competently by director Kenneth Branagh.</p><p> The 3-D was ho-hum in movie theaters, but if you have a 3-D compatible TVand glasses and a 3-D BluRay player and the right connections, you can judge for yourself.</p><p> The deluxe pack contains three discs (BluRay 3-D, standard BluRay, standard DVD) and a digital copy, making it asTOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9 MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1of 2More Entertainment News at THR.com More Celebrity News at People.comMovies Miss Piggy Keeps Paparazzi at Bay by Tossing Cupcakes READ MORE Melanie Amaro Reveals Her 'True Self' on X Factor READ MORE Tiffani Thiessen: We Have'Built In' Babysitters READ MORE Ellen and Sofia's Runway Feud Doug Bombard On Retrieving Natalie Wood's Body Simon Cowell Wants Jennifer Lopez as a Judge The Greatest Guitar Player Of All Time Revealed! easy as possible for you to enjoy the movie anyway you want.</p><p> MY LIFE AS A DOG ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion) -- Any movie that can charm curmudgeons like writer Kurt Vonnegut and comic Stephen Wright is a very special movie.</p><p> Lasse Hallstrom will never make a better film than this charmer about a little boy whose father is far away, whose mother is quite ill and who enjoys imitating dogs.</p><p> Europeans seem to take children much more seriously, at least in the movies,and this is just one more example of the quiet observation of youth that seems to reveal so much about the joys and pain of life for everyone, not just little boys.</p><p> It's a great movie.</p><p> Criterion's extras are a little more modest than usual, with Hallstrom appearing in a video interview.</p><p> But the one main extra is adoozy: it's a 52 minute movie by Hallstrom from 1973, made right before he started helming all thoseABBA videos.</p><p> That makes this set practically a double feature and a welcome chance to see more of his early work.</p><p> MST3K: MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE ($24.97; Shout) -- So many movies clamor to be considered the worst of all time ( Trolls 2 , anyone?) that it can get a little exhausting plowing through them. "Yep, that's bad; but it's not the worse." So thank God for Mystery Science Theater 3000.</p><p> Even if a movie isjust plain no good (rather than gloriously ungood) you can rest assured their jokey comments will keep you entertained.</p><p> And they rarely did it better than with Manos , a movie that inspired them to heights of mockery.</p><p> Hence this special edition in which you get all sorts of extras, including the original film without their commentary so you practice mocking it all on your own.HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3 HOT ON TWITTER 1of 2 HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Holidays Issues Business Black Friday Detroit Public Schools Detroit Lions Fun Stuff Turkey Jessica Alba Buy a link here Sponsored Links 57-Year-Old Mom Looks 25 Her clever $6 Wrinkle Therapy Angers Botox Doctors. www.iconsumerknowledge.com Weight Watchers® Online Get online weight loss tools and resources from the brand you trust. www.WeightWatchers.com New Trick in TENNESSEE If you drive 25 mi/day or less you better read this...</p><p> Insurance.Comparisons.org MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » IT'S OFFICIAL: 'All My Children,' 'One Life To Live' Both Canceled For Good, Won't Go Online The Smartest Show On TV Proves It With Secret Scene Like 909 The Roots Greet Michele Bachman With 'Lyin' Ass Bitch' Like 4K elizrael RetweetFox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study http://t.co/klJgOR3q theellenshow RetweetI'm so thankful for @MarloThomasand Jennifer Aniston and theincredible work they do for children.</p><p> You can help them. http://t.co/8e6dEDIANA RIGG AT THE BBC ($49.98; BBC) -- Be aware that this is not the "complete" Diana Rigg at the BBC.</p><p> It does contain two entire runs: the comedy Three Piece Suite and the better romp Mrs.</p><p> Bradley Mysteries.</p><p> You also get one-offs like Genghis Cohn from 1993 (with Daniel Craig), Unexplained Laughter (Rigg as a sad journalist) and Little Eyolf.</p><p> Of course, there's no pleasing some people since fans of the great Dame immediately wondered why the BBC didn't include the 1989 four hour miniseries Mother Love , with one of her juiciest roles.</p><p> Ah well, for fans there's a lot to savor here that hasn't been available before.</p><p> The productions may vary in quality but Rigg never does.</p><p> WISHFUL DRINKING ($19.98; HBO) -- If you've read her books/memoirs, most of the stories Carrie Fisher tells here will be familiar ones.</p><p> That won't matter.</p><p> She has such a deliciously good time relatingthem, they're worth hearing all over again.</p><p> Her childhood, her gay lover, those buns -- it's all here, delivered up with wry bemusement.</p><p> Ideally, you'll watch this first and then dive into her books for evenmore detail and dish.</p><p> THE WARPED WORLD OF KOREYOSHI KURAHARA ($69.95; Eclipse/Criterion) -- Criterion continues to delve into unexpected and rewarding corners with this boxed set devoted to the Japanese director.</p><p> Intimidation is a noir-ish drama about a rising bank manager blackmailed into robbing his ownsafe.</p><p> It's good fun, but Kurahara really comes into his own with seminal '60s works like The Warped Ones, Yukio Mishima adaptation Thirst For Love, the less typical glossy I Hate But Love and the jazz crazy Black Sun with a score by Max Roach.</p><p> Wild and wooly stuff in great looking prints.</p><p> NEDS ($26.95; Tribeca Film/New Video) -- The first half of Neds (short for Non-educated Delinquents) had me very excited.</p><p> Director Peter Mullan's earlier drama, The Magdalene Sisters , was a well-acted if heavy-handed look at the abuses of young women by the system.</p><p> Now he is telling the story of a smartyoung kid with a vicious dad, a criminal older brother and a world that wants to lower his expectations atalmost every turn.</p><p> The casting of the two young actors who play John McGill (Gregg Forrest and Conor McCarron) is spot on.</p><p> They're both excellent and look strikingly similar, making his growth from little kid to bulky teenager very believable.</p><p> John is very bright and some teachers do encourage him.</p><p> But thespectre of his older brother, his nasty father and his poor circumstances frustrate the boy at every turn.He snaps, finally, when a nice kid he befriends from a wealthy family is cut off from him simply because he's lower class.</p><p> John takes refuge in a gang and they drink and thug around in increasingly violent ways.</p><p> John is both victim and persecutor here.</p><p> But I simply didn't buy the ham-handed way he descended intoTaxi Driver territory, no matter how inexorably brutal his world may be.</p><p> A compelling case study became a whacked out tale with multiple hard-to-swallow twists (especially from his dad) and not one, but twocrazily metaphoric moments, one with Christ stepping down from the Cross and the other with Johnwalking through a field of lions that is spoiled by what appear to be obvious digital effects.</p><p> Mullan has great skill and brought together an excellent cast.</p><p> But like so many directors he pushes his stories into the extreme when small and quiet was proving far more effective.</p><p> TRAINSPOTTING ($19.99; Miramax/Lionsgate) -- Some films just explode with talent; you get a contact from seeing so many artists -- actors, writers, directors, cinematographers, production designers - - all suddenly getting an opportunity to strut their stuff and making the most of it.</p><p> That's the joy of Trainspotting , an outwardly depressing story of drug addiction that is made genuinely thrilling by the sheer delight of director Danny Boyle, star Ewan McGregor and all the rest wowing everyone, not least of all themselves.</p><p> The BluRay fully exploits the great look and that great soundtrack.</p><p> Great fun.</p><p> Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the co-host of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoJerry Seinfeld And Larry David Speculate On... 'All My Children,' 'One Life To Live'...</p><p> Mariah Carey On HSN: Singer Mocks Viral... 'G.I.</p><p> Joe' Crew Member Died In On-Set...available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews .</p><p> NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review.</p><p> He typically does not guarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover each week.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Buy a link here Sponsored Links The New "Skinny" Fruit How This Strange 62-Cent African Fruit Is Making Americans Skinny. www.HLifestyles.com 57-Year-Old Mom Looks 25 Her clever $6 Wrinkle Therapy Angers Botox Doctors. www.iconsumerknowledge.com Overstock 55" TVs: $47.32 BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: 55" LED TV for just $47.32! One per Customer DealFun.com eBay® - Official Site Visit eBay for great deals on a huge selection of items.</p><p> Shop eBay! www.ebay.com More in Entertainment...</p><p> ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.</p><p> All rights reserved.</p><p> Part of HuffPost News FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
